Mr Leland's Filly Packs Late Wallop (08/01/14)

Posted Friday August 1, 2014

By Mike Paradise

Casey Leonard went into last weekend’s Loyal Opposition Final for ICF 2-year-olds far from confident about the chances of his drive Mr Leland’s Filly but he came out of it with a completely different outlook for Saturday’s $77, 400 Hanover stake for freshman filly pacers.

“Mr Leland’s Filly was really good last Saturday,” said the circuit’s leading driver who certainly wasn’t exaggerating. .

The Erv Miller trained filly was a non-factor in the Loyal Opposition elimination and drew the 9-hole for the final where Mr Leland’s Filly was a far-back ninth, some 16 lengths behind at the half-mile pole and still ninth, about a dozen lengths in back by the 3/r marker reach in 1:24.2.

That’s when Casey found a clear path with the 21-1 longshot and she responded with a wicked :26.3 last quarter and a one length victory in 1:53.2.

Saturday Mr Leland’s Filly (pp 3) will open as the 2-1 second programmed favorite behind the 9-5 morning line favorite Lex, last week’s third place finisher after a trio of consecutive triumphs including Maywood’s My Metallic for trainer Nelson Willis.

“Mr Leland’s Filly is a work in progress,” continued Casey. “Erv called me before her first start and let me know what he wanted from me in that race. He knew the filly could go but told me I would have to drive her and make her do it. As it turned out I was pretty impressed with her first start (:26.4 last quarter).

“However in her next start she wasn’t getting a hold of the track at all. She struggled. So going into last weekend’s stake final I wasn’t very optimistic on her chances but Erv was there for the race and told me she would be better and she certainly was right.”

“I talked to Erv after the race and he said she’ll get in trouble once in a while because of the way she races but she can make a run at them and if she can get home like she did in the Loyal Opposition she’ll do all right this year”.

With only a five-horse field Mr Leland’s Filly could be a lot closer turning for home in Saturday’s Balmoral and moving to the inside three-slot also helps the daughter of Sportsmaster owned by Illinoisans Paymaq Racing (Long Grove) and Leland Mathias (Bethany).

Lex landed the one-slot again and could have a much easier time on the front-end, making her a serious threat to resume her earlier winning ways. The two-post belongs to Angel Demon (9-2, Ryan Anderson), the L.O. stake runner-up and another Erv Miller trainee who will race uncoupled because of different ownership (Quaid Racing of Evergreen Park, IL)..

Longshot BS Tyrichess (15-1, Brian Carpenter) leaves from post four in the fifth race co-feature with Duneside Perttie (6-1, John De Long) on the outside with the five-post.